Language politics denied poor children quality HE – PM

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit out at political opponents on Saturday 25 March for “playing games over languages” that had consequently deprived rural and poor children of quality higher education over the past years, while asserting that kids can now learn in their mother tongue because of his government’s policy push for native languages in schools and colleges, write Niranjan Kaggere and Basavaraj Maralihalli for The Times of India.

“Kannada is such a prosperous language that it adds to the pride of India. You can study engineering, medicine or any other technology in Kannada with ease. The previous governments did not do anything because these parties did not want our rural kids, children from backward classes and poor families to become engineers or doctors,” the prime minister said.

His remarks in the poll-bound state bring to context the emotive language issue that has been at the core of a border dispute in Karnataka’s Belagavi, where political outfits had claimed that most people speak Marathi and hence, should be merged with Maharashtra. In Davanagere, where he addressed a mega rally marking the end of BJP’s 8,000km Vijaya Sankalpa Yatra ahead of the assembly polls, Modi asked people to vote for his party because a stable and “double-engine” government in Karnataka is vital for continuing the pace of development.
Full report on The Times of India site